Early Indian History

A Reader

Edited by Romila Thapar

Early Indian History

A Reader

Edited by Romila Thapar

Description

This book discusses the period from 1000 BC to the end of the sixth century AD. Divided into five thematic sections, the first section discusses questions like perceptions, historical consciousness, and approaches to the study of ancient Indian history. The second and third parts give a detailed account of changes in society and economy and the evolution and transformation of the political formations from ancient times. The segment on religion presents information on development in the field of religion and philosophy while the last section underlines changes which paved way for new socio-economic and political formations. The new Introduction updates research on the subject and explains the various themes discussed in the volume.

This book is an important
reading for teachers, students, and scholars of ancient Indian history.

Early Indian History

A Reader

Edited by Romila Thapar

Table of Contents

Introduction SECTION I: HISTORIOGRAPHY:1. Decolonising the Past2. Society and Historical Consciousness3. The Contribution of D.D. Kosambi to IndologySECTION II: ECONOMY AND SOCIETY:4. Society in Ancient India5. Lineage Society6. The Evolution of the State in the Ganga Valley7. Black Gold: South Asia and the Roman Maritime TradeSECTION III: CHANGING POLITICAL FORMATIONS:8. The Mauryan Empire in Early India9. Society and Economic Activity10. Text and Context: Megasthenes and the Seven Castes11. Asoka: A RetrospectiveSECTION IV: RELIGION, PHILOSOPHY AND SOCIETY:12. Ideology. Society and the Upanisads13. The Householder and the Renouncer14.
Patronage and the CommunitySECTION V: TOWARDS FURTHER CHANGE:15. Inscriptions as Historical Writing in Early India, 3rd BC to 6th AD16. Threshold TimesIndex

Early Indian History

A Reader

Edited by Romila Thapar

Author Information

Romila Thapar is Professor Emeritus at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She also holds the Kluge Chair in Countries and Cultures of the South at the Library of Congress, and is Professorial Fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi. An Honorary Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, she has been Distinguished Visiting Professor at Cornell University.